SSE Renewables and Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy are to explore the opportunity to produce green hydrogen using energy from two onshore windfarms in Ireland and Scotland.
The companies said on Monday that they have signed a memorandum of understanding on the matter.
The partnership aims to encompass the full green hydrogen value chain, including construction, supply chain management, customer offtake and storage, end user requirements, reliability and operation and maintenance.
The two companies will also aim to work with green hydrogen customers across a range of industries including transportation, major distilleries and gas network operators.
Hydrogen is fast being recognised as having a potentially major role to play in decarbonising hard-to-abate sectors, including heavy industry and transportation.
The partnership will help power commitments by both companies to support the Irish and UK governments in reaching their individual net zero targets, including in the UK hitting 5GW of low carbon hydrogen production by 2030.
Under the partnership, the companies aim to co-locate hydrogen production facilities at two selected onshore wind farms, one each in Ireland and Scotland to be announced in due course. They will then begin production and delivery of green hydrogen through electrolysis.
‘Perfect sense’
Jim Smith, managing director of SSE Renewables, said it made “perfect sense” to partner with Siemens Gamesa.
“Hydrogen is rapidly becoming an important and exciting component of the strategy to decarbonise power production, heavy industry and transport, among other sectors,” he said.
“The revolutionary production of green hydrogen from wind energy offers wider opportunity for markets such as Ireland and Scotland to further exploit our abundant wind resources.
“That’s why it makes perfect sense for SSE Renewables and Siemens Gamesa to come together to explore how we can use our experience and expertise to harness our fantastic wind resource to bring the green hydrogen revolution to Ireland and Scotland, and so help decarbonise the wider UK and European economies.”
Paulina Hobbs of Siemens Gamesa said: “It took three decades for wind and solar to reach grid parity with fossil fuels, green hydrogen needs to do the same in one decade if we are to reach our 2050 carbon neutral targets.
“Siemens Gamesa is committed to making this happen but it can only be achieved when we work together with companies such as SSE Renewables to help springboard the development and we are very excited to see what this partnership can create.”
Siemens Gamesa has already successfully collaborated to bring a hydrogen production plant into operation where hydrogen is produced from an onshore wind project.
The Brande Hydrogen pilot site in Denmark features a battery, a turbine and an electrolyser to serve as a test bed for several technology pathways, including the production of green hydrogen in the near-term from existing wind projects.
